Extracts from journal of Elizabeth Drinker
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Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker, a Philadelphia Quaker, began keeping a daily diary in 1758, when she was 23 years old. Drinker remained in the city during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793, recording news from her merchant husband, Henry (referred to as "H.D." or "H.S.D") and other visitors, as well as her own observations on the effects of the epidemic.
Although no one in Drinker's immediate family succumbed to the epidemic, four of her nine children died in childhood, an adult daughter died of cancer, and two others suffered from debilitating illness. Drinker continued to chronicle life in Philadelphia until her death in 1807.
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